


Turn Our Hearts To The Stars

by NinjaSpaz



Series: IwaOi Fluff Week [5]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Confessions, Epiphany, Future Plans, IwaOi Fluff Week, M/M, Oh No He's Hot, Promises, Soft Boys, far too much celestial imagery, iwa has a plan, oikawa can't sleep, technically canon compliant, tender iwa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-23
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:22:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25456939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NinjaSpaz/pseuds/NinjaSpaz
Summary: “You’re not allowed to get hotter than me in California, Iwa-chan. I simply won’t stand for it.”“Please, I’m already hotter than you. That’s why you can’t wait to get out of here.”Tooru pulls away to give him a scandalized scowl, but Hajime is smirking that devilish grin that Tooru can’t escape in his dreams. He absolutely does not want to leave that smile, and the quirk of an eyebrow tells him Hajime is entirely aware of it.-On the eve of his departure, Oikawa cannot get to sleep. Thankfully, his best friend knows just the thing.
Relationships: Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru
Series: IwaOi Fluff Week [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1837429
Comments: 12
Kudos: 111
Collections: Iwaoi fluff week 2020





	Turn Our Hearts To The Stars

**Author's Note:**

> Day 5: Awake | “I need you”
> 
> This was technically the first piece I finished for this event, and after finishing yesterday's I realize this could be more or less a direct continuation even if I never actually intended it that way.

Tooru stares at his ceiling in the dark, the plastic constellations scattered above staring back in their muted, soft glow. They’re mocking him, really. _We’re asleep now, why aren’t you?_ He thought about turning his light back on, washing them in the fluorescents and forcing them to entertain him for another hour. His eyebrows crease as he considers it. That would mean temporarily blinding himself now that his eyes had adjusted to the night, and even if he didn’t go blind, he would see the source of his insomnia looming in front of his closet. He shakes his head to dispel those thoughts and turns his attention back to the stars.

They had been a constant in his life. Hajime had helped him put them up when they were five, and despite his own whining about the positions of some of the planets in relation to the made-up constellations they had created, he had never moved any of the little plastic celestial bodies once Hajime had tacked them up. It was a sky he shared with Hajime, one they had created together, and it was a sky he loved to stare at, that calmed him almost as much as the one beyond the wooden frames and shingles above.

He rolls onto his side, facing his desk. It is clear of the usual notebooks and papers that have adorned it for the better part of his life, homework and tests a thing of the past for him starting tomorrow. Really, since he had graduated, but he supposes he’ll be facing different sorts of tests from now on. And also, it’s really starting today. The digital clock sitting atop the scuffed desk smugly glares **12:48** at him.

Tooru groans as his legs twitch beneath his blankets. He tries his hardest to refrain from kicking them, but he can’t make them stay still. His mind is buzzing with all his plans and concerns and excitement and fears. He goes through his checklists again, a futile effort since he already knows he has everything he needs for his departure in the morning. He has answered every email from every authority figure he needed to answer to and he has spoken to his family at least seven times since yesterday morning. His mother got weepier with every conversation, his father prouder and prouder. His sister had only called twice, and the second time was more for his nephew’s sake, because Takeru needed to be sure his uncle wouldn’t forget him. Tooru had smiled at that. _As if._ He loved his family. He was going to miss them.

In all the bustle of his preparations, he’d barely had any time to see Hajime, though. It only made sense. They were both busy preparing for this next stage of their lives. The first stage they would not be sharing. Iwa-chan had already told him how proud he was, that he was the best partner, and would go on to be the greatest anywhere. It had been a moving speech, filling Tooru with an overabundance of the fondness he always felt whenever Hajime praised him, but thinking back on it now he didn’t want it to be the last time they shared under the stars.

Tooru bolts upright in his bed. It won’t be the last time, will it? Just because they’re taking separate paths now, it doesn’t mean they won’t ever see each other again. Ice builds in the pit of his stomach. He is ready to go, to pursue his dreams, to climb higher and fly farther than any of his cohort. The distance has never scared him, but he hesitates thinking about leaving Hajime. About what that distance will mean for them, for their future. Will they grow apart? Will they stop sharing every mundane detail of their lives? Will they stop talking altogether?

He sighs, running his hand through his hair and flinching as he catches a snarl. He tugs his fingers free, working the tangle loose, and stares back up at the homemade galaxy on his ceiling. They were charting unknown territory, flying off into parts unknown, and while they were doing it independently, it was yet another thing they would share. A lifetime of shared experiences wouldn’t be blown to pieces just from a little distance, right?

It’s foolish, probably, but he grabs his phone anyway.

_Me (1:04): iwa-chan?_

He doesn’t actually expect a response. Hajime sleeps like the dead and if he’s already asleep, as Tooru expects him to be, he won’t answer until morning. He debates texting him again regardless, just to type his insecurities out into the void, to help quiet his mind enough to sleep. The buzzing in his head reverberates through his phone, and he jumps at the sensation.

_Iwa-chaaaan~ (1:05): usual spot?_

Tooru doesn’t think too long on the implications of that rapid response even as his chest constricts with sudden warmth. He doesn’t know how Hajime does that, just knows exactly what Tooru needs without asking, how he always pierces straight to the heart of all the things he doesn’t say and pulls them to the surface. He doesn’t bother responding. Just as Hajime knows exactly what he needs, Tooru knows Hajime is already on his way to their secret base.

He slips out of bed, throws on his gym short s and sneakers, and tip-toes out of the house through the back door by the kitchen. He crosses the yard, careful to avoid his mother’s gardening tools in the dark, and twists himself through the gap in the fence between his house and his neighbor’s. The old shortcut between the houses has seen many kids grow up over the years and he wonders if one day he’ll have a home with a similarly worn path connecting childhood friends like himself and his Iwa-chan.

Hajime hasn’t gone ahead to their usual spot. He sits waiting on his front porch until he spots Tooru walking up the street and rises to meet him. The warmth still stirring in Tooru’s chest spreads further. They walk together, meandering in and out of pools of amber light, content in the silence of the summer night despite the heaviness that hangs over Tooru’s head. At the end of the street, they duck around the hedges to the trail they’d spent so many summer days mapping as kids. It wasn’t really a trail so much as another weathered footpath, formed by the hubris of adventurous youth. It was another testament to their shared history, one of the first paths they had ever forged together. It wound through trees and around massive boulders, deeper into the woods until they could hear the tinkling spring of water over smooth stones.

None of it was quite as impressive as it was in his memory. The boulders were mere slabs of rock jutting out from the ground, easily hopped over with his long legs now that he was nearly an adult, not quite the monolithic obstacles he remembered. The trees were sparser than he recalled, too, not nearly so suffocating, the canopy offering plenty of windows to the starry sky overhead. He remembered being able to see the stars better back here, but he also remembered the trees being thicker and taller.

He feels his lips quirk up at that thought. He is the one who is thicker and taller now. And he isn’t the only one. He lets his gaze wander to his stoic companion. His best friend has also grown, but Tooru still sees the belligerent 7-year-old who had first dragged him back along this trail a decade ago, easily picking his way through the trees and the bushes excitedly, impatient to show Tooru the magical place he had found.

The trail opens up onto a small clearing, the babbling creek carving a path through the woods back towards the town. Both creek and town hold so many fond memories for Tooru, nearly every single one of them filled with the boy at his side. The boy is not 7 anymore, though. The softness of his youth has given way to solidness, a strength in the cut of his jaw and the firmness of his arms, sculpted from years of volleyball training, and the fierce scowl he is liberal with tossing Tooru’s way has sharpened into something intense and smoldering.

He isn’t scowling now as he settles down on the grassy bank of the stream, patting the space next to him as if Tooru needs an invitation. Even in the dark his eyes are piercing, sending Tooru’s heart into his throat. He sits next to Hajime and hugs his knees to his chest, leaning his head back so he can look at the night sky he adores so much, avoiding the gaze of his best friend of nearly fifteen years who he might actually adore even more.

In the quiet, he realizes how true that is. He also realizes just how soon things are about to change. He won’t see these stars again for a long time. Tomorrow (today) he will board a train to the airport, and then a flight across the ocean, to the other end of the world, to a land where he barely speaks the language. He’d been practicing, of course, he needed to be able to communicate with his new teammates once he arrived and English could only take him so far, but he was hardly conversational. That would get easier with people to be conversational with, but right now he worries about a different conversation he needs to have.

Hajime leans back, arms like tree trunks spread behind him, supporting him as he stretches his legs out on the grass in front of him. It really isn’t fair that he pulls off the gym rat look so effortlessly, with his sleeveless tank dipping low and his joggers sitting snug on his hips. His head is tilted back, face turned toward their heavenly backdrop, and Tooru almost has to drag his eyes away. He can’t remember a time where anything could have caught his attention more than the stars, but his breath hitches in his throat as it hits him that he wants to sear this view into his mind just as desperately. He manages to look away, but it takes a surprising effort.

“I wonder what they’ll look like in South America,” he says, voice soft to not shatter the fragile silence. Hajime hums understanding, but doesn’t say anything. He keeps his gaze trained on the sky and lets Tooru sort out his jumbled thoughts. As much as this place is theirs, something specific about this moment belongs to Tooru and he won’t trample over that. Any other time, he might make a sarcastic quip or teasing jibe, but that’s not what Tooru needs. And until Tooru has aired the weight on his heart, has said the words he feels he needs to say, Hajime will remain quiet. Tooru kind of loves him for that.

He eases into Hajime’s side, his best friend’s shoulder a steady pillar that has always supported him for as far back as he can remember. Shoulders that carried him home after a sprained ankle when they were ten, after late night study sessions and long practices in middle school, after bad grades and messy breakups and rotten knees. Shoulders that flex beautifully when he winds up for a line shot, that seem made for Tooru’s hand to slap in congratulations or support. His heart stutters against his ribcage as reality sets in, that he won’t have that firm, unwavering, unquestioning support anymore. “Am I out of my mind?” he barely breathes, not even sure what he means when he says it.

Thick, calloused fingers weave their way between long, slender ones, pulling them from Tooru’s knee and forcing him to open up, reminding him he can be open here. Hajime gives his hand a gentle squeeze. “You’ve always been out of your mind,” he huffs. “This is actually pretty normal for you.”

Tooru feels warmth prick at the corners of his eyes. “It’s not like I’m scared to leave or anything,” he says, trying to make it sound like a joke but it comes out all watery and contradictory. It’s mostly true, though. It’s not the leaving that scares him. Hajime doesn’t laugh at him, only leans into his arm, returning the comforting pressure Tooru is so desperate to cling to.

The thing is, they’ve never actually talked about it, this intangible, powerful thing between them. It’s the thing that tells him when Hajime is well and truly angry versus when he’s just his usual gruff Iwa-chan self. The thing that pulls at him whenever Hajime is hurting and trying to hide it from everyone around him and, apparently, vice versa. The thing that has him reaching for his phone even before it lights up with Hajime’s contact picture attached to a text notification whether they’ve been texting non-stop or haven’t talked in hours. The thing that soothes him as he traces plastic constellations in his room and eases him to dreams of emerald eyes and a cocksure grin. The thing he is terrified to speak of but more terrified to lose.

He tightens his grip on Hajime’s hand, grateful it’s already there. He’s always been there. Tooru has never known a life without Hajime at his side, can scarcely imagine it, and yet here they are, hours away from that reality. The stars bleed together as his vision blurs with tears and he hears his nephew’s words escape his lips, shaky and pathetic and honest. “You won’t forget me, right?”

“As if,” Hajime answers without hesitation. Tooru manages a chuckle, or maybe it’s a sob, he isn’t even sure at this point. “C’mere,” he orders, pulling his hand free from Tooru’s and opening his arms to bring his best friend tight to his chest. Tooru tucks his face into the crook of Hajime’s neck and wraps his arms snugly around his shoulders. Hajime has never been able to bear seeing Tooru cry, but as he sighs into the embrace he gives, all the taller boy feels is relief.

His heart is still heavy. Heavier, now that he knows the weight of what he’s leaving. But in spite of that, he feels an even stronger sense of determination. The arms around his waist, the hand rubbing small, soothing circles into his back, they’re a promise. No matter the distance, the path home leads here. Three years from now, five, ten, he’ll always have this. “You’re gonna be great too, you know,” he murmurs into Hajime’s shoulder.

Tooru can feel his grin against his temple. “Course,” he says. “I have to be if I’m gonna keep up with you.”

Tooru nods as if this is the answer he was expecting all along. And maybe it was. “When do you leave?” he asks, even though he knows.

“End of the month,” he answers, even though he knows Tooru already knows this. His hand moves up to card through Tooru’s hair.

“Mmm. I’ll have three weeks headstart on my tan,” Tooru murmurs, reveling in the sensation of calloused fingers tenderly running over his scalp. A low rumbling chuckle emanates from Hajime’s chest and Tooru finds himself even more relaxed. “You’re not allowed to get hotter than me in California, Iwa-chan. I simply won’t stand for it.”

“Please, I’m already hotter than you. That’s why you can’t wait to get out of here.”

Tooru pulls away to give him a scandalized scowl, but Hajime is smirking that devilish grin that Tooru can’t escape in his dreams. He absolutely does not want to leave that smile, and the quirk of an eyebrow tells him Hajime is entirely aware of it. He’s already lost this battle so he resorts to a pout and a huff as he settles himself back on Hajime’s chest. “So mean, Iwa-chan. I can’t wait to be out of reach of your cruelty.”

Something warm and soft presses to the top of his head and Hajime laughs again. “You won’t block my number. You need me.”

He doesn’t want to admit that.

“I do.”

Hajime nods. “But you’ll be just fine without me.”

He knows.

“Doesn’t mean I have to like it,” he grumbles.

“You’ll be so busy you won’t even have time to think about it.”

“So will you.”

“Hmm.” His hand is still making tracks through the strands of Tooru’s hair.

The silence settles back over them, the crickets and cicadas singing their evening symphony as the stars continue to dance overhead. Tooru lets himself relax against him, tightening his grip around his waist in silent communication. _Thank you for being here._

A gentle press of a hand in the small of his back. _Always._

His eyes grow heavy and he realizes the buzzing in his head is gone. In its place is a rhythmic drumbeat, a soothing percussion that syncs perfectly with his own heartbeat. Hajime’s hand is in his again and he feels it resonate where their wrists brush against one another. A soft timbre washes over him. “You know I love you, right?”

The confession doesn’t jolt him back to wakefulness. If anything, it lulls him further towards rest. Of course he knows it. He knows it like he knows how to breathe. He knows it because he loves Hajime too. By way of answer, he tilts his head to the side to place a tender kiss to Hajime’s neck and presses his nose into the space where it meets his shoulders. For tonight at least, he will have this.

In the morning, he will leave Japan and follow his path forward. Hajime will follow his own path, if not directly behind him, at least adjacent. They will live in new places, learn new languages, meet new people, maybe fall in and out of love with other people, but always they’ll have each other a text, a phone call away. And if there’s one thing they know, it’s that their paths will cross again. And just as they know how deep their feelings for one another go, they know that when their paths meet again, they will merge again to forge ahead together.

The stars smile down on the teens dozing on the verdant bank. _Sleep well,_ they say.

And Tooru and Hajime do.

**Author's Note:**

> I am so soft for these boys. They're gonna do great things! I think this might be my personal favorite of all the pieces I wrote for this week. 
> 
> The title comes from a Starset song, Trials. (It's not really a great vibe for this piece, quite the opposite to be honest haha, but that particular lyric stuck in my head and felt right.)
> 
> Thanks for reading! Please leave a kudos, comment, or come cry with me on [Twitter!](https://twitter.com/anininjaspaz)! See you tomorrow!


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